Adventures of the Wishing Heart
by Eiedolon
Summary: I'm not giving anything away, but it is a romance. R&R, and I'll update every 3 reviews! Rated T for caution.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

My name is Toby Thompson, but most people just call me Toe. Last year, me, my friends, and even my enemies, found a rainbow colored stone, that granted wishes.

I had wished for friends as unique as I was, and I ended up with tiny aliens. That ended up with me and my former enemy, Helvetica Black, breaking both of our arms.

It was an amazing chain of events which led to Helvetica's father, the most powerful man in the world, getting the rock. All of us kids made wishes, to help stop him, including Helvetica and her brother. That chain of events, also left me and Helvetica, as friends. And this, is what is going on now. It might not be as exciting as getting my wishes granted, but it is pretty life changing.


	2. Chapter 1

"Hey Helvetica! What's goin' on?" I asked her, as we walked up to the doors of the school.

"Daddy got a new girlfriend, and she's the devil," she told me.

"Oh, come on. Is she really that bad?" I asked

"Yes. She keeps Daddy away from me, and when he's not around, she says things like that she hates me, and worse, that she was only pretending to like Daddy because he was rich. And when he is around, she pretends like she's a perfect, child-loving angel. I haven't seen Daddy all week," she said, as she began to sniffle, and small tears began to fall from her eyelashes. She spread out her arms, and stopped walking. I walked in front of her, and wrapped my arms around her.

She cried on my shoulder, the small droplets of salty liquid staining my shirt.

"Shhh, Hel, it's okay. I'm here. Let it all out," I whispered, as we stood there. People stared at us as they walked by, but I glared at them, and then looked away, and began to walk faster. I felt something click inside me, and I just felt like I could stay like that forever, and I would be content. She shifted slightly, and I felt her wet cheek press into the side of my face. I pat her back, and she pulled away slightly, and looked at me. I smiled slightly, and nodded, and she buried her face in my shoulder once again.

"So. What are we going to do about it?" I asked. She pulled away completely this time, and stared at me inquisitively.

"Yep. I'm going to help you get her out. How about, you come to my house after school, and we'll make a plan. Okay? Let's call your dad and my parents and tell them," I said as I wiped the tears from her face.

"I forgot my Green Box at home," she said. The Black Box had become the Green Box, after Mr. Black had realized the error of his ways. It was now eco-friendly.

"It's okay, you can use mine after I'm done. If you call your dad, and then my parents say no, we'll have to call your dad again," I said. She nodded, and stepped buried her head back in my shoulder, her tears starting to come slower, but she probably didn't want to embarrass herself by people seeing her crying. After all, she was Helvetica Black, and she was supposed to be tough, invincible, even. I pulled out my Green Box, and changed it into a phone. I called my parents, and Mom picked up the phone.

"Hey Mom. Is it okay of Helvetica comes over after school?" I asked.

"Sure. Why?" she asked. I glanced down at Helvetica, and saw her looking up at me, her eyes saying "No".

"We were assigned a project for school, and we're going to work on it together," I said.

"'Kay," she said, and hung up. I hung up too, and then tried to hand it to Hel.

"No. I'm in no state to be talking to Daddy. My voice is all weird, and he would know. Can you talk to him?" she asked in an uneven voice. I nodded, and she told me the number, and embraced me again.

"Hello? Mr. Black?" I asked.

"Yes, that's me. Who's this?" He asked.

"This is Toby Thompson. Hel and I are doing a school project, and she left her Green Box at home, so she asked me to call to ask if she could come to my house after school," I said.

"Why, of course. Do you know what you're going to do?" he asked.

"Not yet, sir. I'm sure Hel will tell you when we figure something out. I have to go now, Mr. Black. Bye," I said, as I hung up.

"It's all set," I said.

"Thanks. Did I mention how sorry I was for getting you stuffed in all those trash cans?" she asked. She had been apologizing all the time for that.

"Only like a million times. And you don't have to keep saying your sorry for that. You didn't even have to say it one time," I said. She bumped into me gently, and we started walking to our class.

"Helvetica. Toby. Why are you so late?" asked our teacher.

"We saw a guy laying on the sidewalk on the way, so we stopped to make sure he was alright. Apparently he was a sunbathing hobo," I said quickly. She stared at us strangley, but we took our seats.


	3. Chapter 2

"So, through the whole day, here's what I thought about: You keep your dad's girlfriend busy, while I go talk to Mr. Black. We'll use my Green Box as a baby monitor, and I'll have the part that you can hear from. You'll take the one that hears, and get her to confess. You'll use your Green Box to record it, in case he misses it. He'll hear her, kick her out, problem solved," I said.

"That's a great idea!" she said, as she threw her arms around me. I embraced her, and had that strange feeling again.

"Let's go now," she said. I smiled.

"Okay," I said. I held her for just another second before pulling away sadly.

We walked out, and headed towards her house. I kept sneaking glances of Helvetica. I realized: she was beautiful. I couldn't even explain it. She didn't look much different than before, when she was still my enemy, but I guess my hate for her before had kept me from seeing it. I packed those thoughts away into a mental suitcase, because we had arrived at the front gates of her house. I turned my Green Box into a baby monitor, and gave one of the parts to her.

"Okay. You sneak in, get your Green Box, and come back. Then we'll go in together, and I'll go see your dad, and you go find the devil herself," I said. She nodded, and walked in. I saw her dissapear down a hallway. A few minutes later, I saw her appear, Green Box in hand, already in recorder form. She walked out the door, and then back in, with me following behind her. We walked three steps in the door, before a lady swooped down on us.

"Helvetica. I thought you were at your friend's house. Well, you better get back there. You're ruining my fortune even by being here," she said to Hel. That made me really mad.

"Oh. Hello! Helvetica, dear, why don't you introduce me to your adorable little friend!" she said to me in a completely different tone. Hel opened her mouth to tell her, but I spread my arm in front of her, and then stepped in front of her protectively.

"I'm Toby. Iv'e heard a lot about you. None of it is good, bu the way. And I don't appreciate the way you've been treating Helvetica. I wouldn't be here at all, but I came up with a really good improvement to the Green Box to pass by Mr. Black. Have you heard our story about the wishing rock? Well you listen here. I know you probably didn't believe the story, but it's true. If you don't leave Hel alone, I will hunt down that stone the rest of my life, and if I find it, I will have you stampeded by elephants, Struck by lightning, and mauled by leopards," I said. She laughed an evil laugh, throwing her head back as she did so.

"I won't leave this little Hel-l Demon alone. I'm not giving up on a fortune!" she said. I was serious about the threat, but I hadn't told Hel that I would be mentioning the rock. It had just come to me on the way here. I left Hel alone, and went to where Hel told me he always was, and the directions. I found him sitting behind a desk,

"Toby. I thought you were Hel at your house," he said.

"No time for that. Listen to this," I said as I pulled out the baby monitor. I switched it on, set it on the desk, and immediately heard Hel and the lady arguing.

"What did you just say?" I heard Helvetica say.

"You heard me! I said that I hate you and that I'm only pretending to like your dad so that he'll marry me, and then I'll be rich!" I heard the other voice say. Mr. Black gasped.

"This is going on downstairs right now, but be quiet or they'll—,"I said, as he ran down the stairs.

"Hear you coming," I said. I ran down the stairs, and saw Hel crying, and Mr. Black's girlfriend pretending to be sweet and innocent, while Mr. Black didn't even notice Helvetica.

"Hey!" I shouted, as I picked up a chair and threw it at the lady. She ducked, but it still scraped across her back. I walked over in front of Hel, and crossed my arms.

"How dare you keep a girl from her father? How dare you try to gain a fortune by seperating them? You are one messed up person. You think that threat wasn't real? I will seriously do it. I remember the direction the rock flew in when Baby Short launched it away. Using my math skills, I bet I could predict the exact place it is. And then you'll pay," I said. Then, the lady, forgetting that Mr. Black was there, snapped.

"You think I believe that little fairy tale, boy? I believe that little Hel-l bound girl and you made it up to scare me and—,"the lady said, before Mr. Black interrupted.

"Lucy? Get out. Now. If you ever speak to my little girl again, I'll have you arrested," he said. Lucy started to argue, but Mr. Black yelled, and she ran out. He turned to Helvetica.

"I'm sorry for not seeing this sooner. And you, Toby. Thank you for showing me," he said.

"No problem. And, by the way, there was no school project," I said. He seemed confused for a second, but then a look of realization came over him. Me and Helvetica left, and went back to my house. When we got to my room, she threw herself at me, and embraced me. Then she did something that surprised me: she kissed me on the cheek.

"Thank you. So much," she whispered in my ear.

"No problem. It was something I would only do for you," I said truthfully.

"Do you think your parents would be okay with letting me stay here tonight?" she asked. I would love it, so I didn't even ask why.

I went and asked, and they said yes. Since Hel had her Green Box, she didn't even need to go back home. It was already pretty late, so we decided to go to bed. I let her have my bed, because we didn't have another bed. I slept on the floor with an extra pillow and cover. I soon drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

That night, I dreamt of Helvetica. I dreamt, of Lucy, hunting down Helvetica, with a bloody knife. She backed her into a corner, and I tried to stop her, but it felt like I was in quicksand. Lucy brought the knife down, and Helvetica screamed. The scene changed. I saw a giant booger attacking her, trying to eat her. It caught her, and started forcing her down it's throat. It kept changing, and changing, each one showing another undescribable horror.

My eyes snapped open, and I was sweating hard. I saw Helvetica leaning over the bed, staring at me worriedly.

"What happened?" I asked, panting.

"You were screaming in your sleep," she said.

"What was I screaming?" I asked.

"Helvetica! Hel! Hel! Nooooooooo," she mimicked quietly, her face turning red, as did mine. I tried to explain, but I just kept stuttering in fear, and finally shivered, and stopped trying. She dissapeared, and then she rolled off the bed, and landed beside me. I scooted over, and she rolled in next to me. I pulled the cover over her, and she cuddled up next to me, and laid her head on my chest. I was surprised, but I wrapped my arms around her.

"Hey Toby? Have you ever had a girlfriend?" she asked me. The question caught me by surprise.

"Believe it or not, Helvetica, you're the closest thing I've had to a girlfriend. A friend who's a girl. I haven't had many friends. What about you?" I asked.

"Never," she said simply. She turned around, and stared at me. we just stayed like that for a while, staring at eachother, her head on my chest, mine on the pillow, her staring at me, me staring at her. I moved closer, so our bodies were pressed together. And that's when I realized: I was in love with Helvetica Black.

She looked away, and turned over. She scooted back, and rest her head in the crook of my neck. I wrapped my arms around her waist, where I found her hands. They were soft, and cold. Took them in my own, and then I fell asleep again.


	5. Chapter 4

When I woke up that morning, my face was right in front of Helvetica's, and her eyes were open.

"Whatcha doin?" I asked.

"Watchin' you sleep," she said, her face red.

"Did I wake you up with my screaming again? I'm sorry if I did," I said. I brushed some hair from her eyes, and sat up. I stood up, and then offered Helvetica my hand. She took it gently, still laying down. I swung her up to her feet gently, and wrapped my arms around her.

"Good morning. What did you dream of?" I asked. Her face turned red, and she began stuttering. I closed the door, and led her to the bed. I laid down, and she cuddled into the crook of my body.

"I have something to tell you," we both said at the same time.

"You first," we both said again. We both began to say "okay", but she cupped her hand over my mouth.

"I'll go first. I wanted to say, that I love you," she said. My head began to spin, and I blacked out.

When I came to, I found Hel staring at me, her face inches above my own, and she was smiling.

"You were saying?" she asked, with affection in her voice.

"I was going to say that I love you," I said. She grinned, and fluttered her eyes at me. I grabbed her by the waist, and rolled over, so I was on top of her. I leaned my head down, down, down, and our lips finally met. I savored the kiss, her lips tasted like strawberries, and my heart beat faster, and faster. I broke away, stunned, and she took the chance to roll on top of me.

"Hel? Will you be my girlfriend?" I asked. She put her feet on mine, and pressed our hands together. I pushed her up, and she balanced on me.

"Of course, Toe!" she said affectionately. I pushed her up, and then took my hands away, and she fell gently on top of me, giggling. She laced her fingers together, and placed her hands on my chest, and she started kicking her bare feet back and forth slowly.

"Why do you love me, Toby?" she asked me.

"You're smart, beautiful, funny, and I guess I just hadn't realized it back when we were enemies. What about you?" I asked. She blushed, and kissed me.

"You're smart, funny, cute, and not to mention the fact that you helped me with a serious emotional thing yesterday," she said. I laughed, and kissed her.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"I have no idea, Toby," she replied.


	6. Chapter 5

That weekend, Helvetica and I saw a few movies, shared a few laughs, shared quite a few kisses, and a few feelings. The night before we went back to school, she was still at my house. She was going to go to school with me. I finished brushing my teeth, and went and laid down in my bed with Helvetica. Her eyes were closed, so I assumed she was asleep.

"Sweet dreams, my darling. We have a big day tomorrow," I whispered in her ear.

"M'kay," she said, as she started to drift into an actual sleep. I wrapped my arms around her in a warm embrace.

"I love you, my angel," I said. I began to drift into a sleep as Hel was.

"And I love you, my prince,"she whispered back. I leaned my head down, and kissed her passionately. As I pulled away, we both fell asleep in eachother's arms.

In the morning, we got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed our teeth, got ready, and then we waited for the bus. We watched TV for a while, with her arm around my back, and my arm across her shoulders. When it was time to go, we left, our arms intwined together. We got on the bus, and sat together, and just talked. When the bus stopped we got off, and were immediately confronted by Helvetica's brother; Cole Black.

"Hey Toe. I heard whay you did with Lucy. And I have to say: maybe you're not so lame after all. I owe you one. I also heard how you're my sister's first boyfriend. And I swear to you, if you hurt her, if you break her heart, I will throw you off the roof of the school," he said. I grinned.

"I don't think we'll have a problem with that, Cole. There is one thing that we might have to worry about. Hel, Cole, huddle up," I said, as they both came up to me, and we formed a football huddle.

"Okay, the lady named Lucy gave me this thought. Most guys will think if I can get Hel to like me, then they'll have no problem. They might try to get to Hel so that they can try to get to you guys' fortune. You know what that means? They'll have to get rid of me by any means necessary. Watch this," I said. I approached the group of tough kids who always followed Cole around.

"I have a few questions. First of all, do you think that you would like to be Hel's boyfriend, just because of her personal traits? Like looks, how she acts, and how she thinks?"I asked. They all shook their head no.

"Now. If Hel had a million dollars, would you like to be her boyfriend, even if it meant destroying her current one?" I asked. They all shook their heads yes.

"See what I mean?" I asked Hel and Cole.

"So, one of us has to be with her at all times, both of us, preferably. Our schedules are the same. That could be worked out," said Cole.

"You know Cole? You're a lot smarter than I thought you were," I said.

"Thanks. Okay, so, we'll each sit by one side of her in each class, and cut off any connection to her and the other boys that goes too far in the wrong direction," he said. He looked at me, and I gave him a look of approval, which he looked proud about.

We went through the whole day, and I think that, because Cole was there, nobody even asked Helvetica to borrow a pencil. At lunch, Helvetica and Cole both filled up their trays meagerly. When Cole went to pay for his food, he didn't have any money.

"Dang it! I must have left my wallet at home," he said. Helvetica reached into a pocket, and dug around for a minute.

"Me too!" she said. They both looked miserable, and I wasn't going to let my girlfriend and my new-found friend go hungry. I pulled out my wallet, and handed each of them a twenty.

"Get whatever you want, and keep the rest," I said. Helvetica kissed me on the cheek, and Cole looked at me cooly.

"You really aren't so bad, Toe!" he said as he clapped me on the shoulder.

"How'd you get all this money, Toby?" Helvetica asked.

"I do a lot of errands all the time, mow a lot of lawns, and plus I get an allowance. I paid for the weekend with that money too. And there is about $500 bucks more where that came from. And that's just what I have with me," I said.

"Can I borrow 20 more dollars? I owe a guy," said Cole. I took out another twenty, and handed it to Cole.

"Don't worry about paying me back, either," I said to him. We paid for our food, and went and sat down. Nose, whose dad finally let him outside and to come to school, came and sat down beside us, as well as Lug, Laser, and Loogie Short.

"This really brings back memories. Remember when you did that freaky eating with your feet thing Helvetica? That creeped me out SO much!" I said, and everybody started laughing.

"Well, remember when you tried to make me "Say hello to your little friends" in class, and then Aliens started wreaking havoc upon the class?"she said.

"Yes. I remember that episode quite vividly," I said, stroking my chin mischieviously. They all laughed, and Hel kissed me on the cheek again, and Lug, Loogie, Laser, and Nose, all spit out their milk in a spit-take. Some of it splashed onto Hel, and I grabbed my napkin, and starting wiping droplets of milk from her face.

She kept the same, displeasured but humorous look the whole time, staying still so I wouldn't have any trouble.

When she was clean, I kissed her again, on the lips this time, and again, they spit out their milk. But this time, I raised up the napkin, which kept us clean. Cole, Hel, and I all started laughing and the others just stared.

"You're—," Laser started.

"You two—," said Lug.

"You're together," said Loogie and Nose together.


	7. Chapter 6

"Hello? This is Toby Thompson," I said into my Green Box.

"Toe. It's me, Cole. You need to get to the hospital fast. Something's wrong with Helvetica!" Cole said frantically.

"I'll be there soon," I said. I pulled on some shoes and a coat, and ran out the door, yelling at my parents that something was wrong with Hel.

"I ran all the way to the hospital, not even stopping to catch my breath. I skid up to the front desk, and stopped.

"Room…Helvetica…Black," I said between worried gasps.

"Room 624—that way," the lady said, pointing. I ran down the Hallway, found room 624—it was closed.

I rapped hard on the door, and moments later, Cole opened the door, and let me in.

"I ran as fast as I could," I said, my voice cracking with worry.

"You ran here…about three miles from your house… in six minutes?" asked Mr. Black from a chair beside a bed. I looked at my watch, and saw that that was about right.

"Apparently. Never mind that, what happened to Helvetica?" I asked, as I sat down on the opposite side of the bed from Mr. Black, the one with Hel's face.

"She was poisoned, they said," said Cole.

"Well, I know one person with the justification to poison a little girl. Lucy. What kind of poison?" I asked.

"We don't know. All we know is that in 72 hours, her immune system will shut down, her heart will stop beating, and she'll die," said a voice from the doorway.

"And it's family only right now," said the doctor.

"With all due respect miss, I'm about the closest she can get to family besides her actual blood relatives like Mr. Black and Cole," I said.

"And you are…?" the doctor asked.

"Toby "Toe" Thompson. I'm Helvetica's boyfriend," I said. Mr. Black gasped.

"Aww. My little Hel's first boyfriend," he said.

"That won't last long if we don't find a cure. And only one way comes to mind," I said.

"You don't mean—?"Asked Cole and Mr. Black at the same time.

"Yeah. The stone. I'm going to track it down, wish for Hel to be okay, and to know who poisoned her, and then send it back. I'm going to need some help. It's time to call in the team. Cole, you with me?" I asked.

"Did you really have to ask?" he asked.

"Good point," I replied coolly. I got out my Green Box, and called Lug, Loogie, and Laser. I told them, and they were in. We met them by the place where our epic battle had taken place the next morning. I found the place the baby had been in, because there was an indent in the road, from where the upward force the baby had exerted had pushed her down. I sketched on some paper some figures, angles, and trajectories.

"I got it!" I said, after I had figured out the distance. We kept walking in that direction and it eventually led us into the next town over. It had obviously just rained, because there was a rainbow in the sky. Wait—a rainbow! I ran off toward the rainbow, the others trailing behind me. When we reached the end of the rainbow, the rock was nowhere to be seen. We all started looking around for it, but it just seemed like it wasn't there. I sighed in sadness, and sat down on a tree stump. And that's when I saw it: a rainbow glittery color below a thin pile of straw. I lunged at the pile, and started digging through it. I eventually pulled up a big, multicolored stone, that was whispering to me to make a wish.

"I have a wish!" shouted Lug.

"No, me first!" said Nose.

"No! This is how it's gonna work. We're going to take this stone back to Hel, wish for her to be better and the person who poisoned her, and then I'm wishing it as far away from here as I can!" I said.

"Yeah! And if anybody disagrees to that, they have to deal with me!" Cole said.

Cole walked up, and stood beside me, and crossed his arms as he nodded. We started making our way back, but it was getting dark. Every time someone said they needed to go home, I would drop them off at a bus stop, with some money, and then continue. Cole and I were the only ones to keep going on the whole time. We arrived early the next morning. We had stopped to sleep under a nice apple tree, but we both fell asleep and were only woken by falling apples. We continued.

When we finally got to the hospital, we went to Hel's room. Inside were several doctors.

"I'm sorry, sir, we misjudged the spreading time of the poison. There is nothing else we can do," said one lady.

"I don't know about anything you can do, but we do know about something we can do," I said from the doorway, before running in, followed by Cole. I raised the stone up above my head. I probably looked like a homeless person, my hair was scraggly and sticking up every way imaginable, my clothes were torn to shreds, and I was covered in scratches and bruises.

"I wish for Helvetica to be healthy again, and the poison gone," I said. The stone glowed briefly, and then Helvetica gasped, snapped her eyes open, and then sat up. She saw me standing there with the stone, and looked puzzled. I ran over to her, and threw my arms around her, and I kissed her, not caring who was watching.

"Now, to see who's behind this," I said as I broke away.

"I wish the person who poisoned Helvetica was here," I said. And, before me, appeared, Lucy. She saw the stone, and her eyes widened. She tried to run for the door, but a suddenly appearing Loogie, Lug, Laser, and Nose barred her way. I caught her by the back of the shirt, and dragged her out into the parking lot.

"Time to fulfill that threat, huh lady?" I said.

"I wish you would be trampled by elephants!" I shouted. Dozens of elephants began spilling into the parking lot, all aiming for Lucy.

"I wish you were struck by lightning!" I shouted. I didn't even flinch as the bolt of ozone ripped down through the air to strike the evil lady. Everybody watched me from the front door of the building, including people from the hospital.

"I wish you were mauled by leopards!" I shouted. The elephants, who were still spilling into the parking lots, suddenly became fierce leopards.

"I wish that the wishing stone would blast itself out of here!" I said. The rock blast out of my hands, and up into the sky. I made sure to remember that, incase I needed the rock again. I picked up Lucy by the scruff of her neck, and walked up to the hospital, where I proceeded to ram Lucy's face into the wall repeatedly. She fell unconscious, so I left her there.

"There. You're not escaping me that easily, Helvetica," I said with a smirk, as I kissed her.

"You saved my life," said Hel matter-of-factly.

"I had help. Cole came with me the whole way. He deserves some kind of reward for that. Plus, Loogie, Lug, Laser, and Nose came with me, even if they weren't much help", I said. Cole blushed, and the Shorts brothers and Nose all clapped each other on the back.

"Let's get you home. Do you think you can stand?" Cole asked. Hel tried to stand, but almost did a face plant into the gravel instead. I caught her, and picked her up in my arms, bridal style. Mr. Black led me to their car, where I got in, and strapped in Hel in the middle seat, and Cole on one side and me on the other. We rode silently on the way, with Hel resting her head on my shoulder, asleep.

"Hey Cole. Nice going out there. I probably couldn't have done it without you. I really love Hel. Consider you owing me from Lucy to be repaid," I told him.

"I still owe you for the parking lot," he said.

"No, Cole. That was a personal thing as well as a promise to me, to you, a threat to Lucy that I told her the day we busted her. It was as much for you as it was for Hel, or me. If anything I think I owe you," I told him.

"Look at this. We're starting to argue about one owing another, like brothers!" Cole said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, brother," I said, and we both laughed quietly.

When we got to Hel's house, I carried her up to her room, Cole following me to make sure I didn't get lost. When we got in her room, it was a lot pinker than I had expected. Not overwhelmingly so, but still. Cole pulled back the covers, and I scooped her under them gently. Cole pulled the covers back up over her, and I gave her a quick kiss, before heading with Cole to his room.

"I think I'll stay here tonight, if that's okay. I'd rather be close to Hel right now. I'll check on her every few minutes," I said.

"I wasn't planning on making you leave, dude," Cole said. We walked into his room, and saw that it was well furnished in posters, couches, desks, and other things, as well as a bed and a TV. Cole turned it on, and a football game was on. I told him I didn't know a thing about football, and he started explaining everything they did.

I went to check on Hel during half-time, and found her awake, staring at the wall.

"Hey Hel. How ya feeling?" I asked. She smiled as I kissed her, and then took one of her hands in my own.

"Like I got run over by a truck," she said simply.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked her.

"Sing to me," she said.

"Okay. I can only sing one song though. I don't know many songs," I said. She nodded. I began to sing.

_The best thing 'bout tonight is that we're not fighting._

_Could it be that er have been this way before?_

_I know you don't think that I am trying._

_I know you're wearing thin down to the core._

_But hold your breath,_

_Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,_

_Over again,_

_Don't make me change my mind._

_Or I won't live to see another day._

_I swear it's true._

_Because a girl like you's impossible to find,_

_You're impossible to find._

_This is not what I intended._

_I always swore to you I'd never fall apart._

_You always thought that I was stronger._

_I may have failed but I've loved you from the start._

_Ohh, but hold your breath,_

_Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,_

_Over again,_

_Don't make me change my mind._

_Or I won't live to see another day,_

_I swear it's true._

_Because a girl like you's impossible to find._

_It's impossible._

_So breathe on sp deep._

_Breathe me in, I'm yours to keep._

_And hold on to your words 'cause talk is cheap._

_And remember me tonight,_

_When you're asleep._

_Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,_

_Over again,_

_Don't make me change my mind._

_Or I won't live to see another day,_

_I swear it's true._

_Because a girl like you's impossible to find._

_Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,_

_Over again._

_Don't make me change my mind._

_Or I won't live to see another day,_

_I swear it's true,_

_Because a girl like you's impossible to find,_

_You're impossible to find._

"So. What do you think, my angel?" I asked her.

"I think you should sing to me more often. I love you," she said, as she leaned from her bed and kissed me.


	8. Chapter 7

Helvetica didn't go to school for three more days that week, so Cole and I stayed with her to make sure she was okay. The day that she went back, so did we. And I was right: guys were trying to get to Hel now. A few came up to her in every class.

"Hey Helvetica. Wanna go out sometime?" said one kid named Jeremy.

"She already has a boyfriend. Now scram, if you want your face to keep its current arrangement!" Cole told him. We all laughed, and one after another kept coming up to her. By weekend, we were exhausted from having to tell every guy who came up to Hel to back off. But, we were in for a surprise.

"Helvetica! Cole! Come meet your mother!" shouted Mr. Black as we walked inside of their house. Hel and Cole looked at each other, and then ran towards the voice. I followed them, and eventually saw Hel and Cole hugging a lady with black hair, and looked a lot like both Cole and Helvetica.

"Where have you been? What about that Ancient Greek relic? Will you finally tell us what it is?" asked Mr. Black.

"In due time. My dear, Cole, Helvetica, you two have grown so much! Who is this?" the lady asked, referring to me.

"He's a lot of things. What do you want to know?" Helvetica asked.

"I want to know everything," she said.

"He's like a brother to me," said Cole.

"He's my hero, my savior, and most of all, my boyfriend," said Helvetica.

"It's true. He's helped this family in ways you wouldn't even guess," said Mr. Black.

"I didn't really do that much," I said, embarrassed.

"Well I want to hear about it after I tell you where I've been. I've been searching for the Pearl of Iris. It is said to contain the spirit of the Greek goddess of rainbows, and grants wishes," she said. We all gasped.

"What?" she asked.

"I'll tell her. We found the rock last year. We all wished upon it, and it would have destroyed the world if we hadn't sent it away, because all of our wishes were greedy," I said. She came up to me.

"Where is it? I must know!" she said.

"No! You will hear our story first," said Cole. So, we called over the Shorts, Noseworthys, my parents, sister, and her boyfriend, and anyone else who was involved with the wishing rock. Together, we told the story, and finally pieced together the order.

We had everybody else but Nose and Loogie and his brothers that we had brought leave. We then began to tell the story after that, about what happened with Lucy, about how I became Hel's boyfriend, and how Cole and I were protecting Hel, and about how Hel had been poisoned. We also told her what we did to find the rock again, leaving out the part about how I found out where it was using math, and coming back, and how a whole bunch of kids had tried to be Hel's boyfriend.

"You! You can lead me to the Pearl!" she said when we were done.

"Yeah, but I won't," I said. Helvetica stared at me as if I had hurt her.

"Why not?" said Mrs. Black.

"So the world will stay intact!" I said. Helvetica stopped looking at me funny, and realized what I was saying.

"We all know that if you had it you would just keep wishing and wishing and eventually destroy the world. Us kids were the only ones who stood between the world's existence and the opposite!" I said.

"Helvetica. He is your boyfriend. Control him, and make him lead me to the stone," she ordered.

"No. I actually like the world as we know it," she said as she got up, and stood next to me, her hand sliding into mine. Lug, Loogie, and Laser Short, plus Cole and Nose, and even Mr. Black, got up, and stood to either side of me.

"NO!" we said together.

"Then I'll just go off in the direction it went in, you did tell me, and look for it!" she said, as she pushed past us, and toward the door.

"You'll never find it," I said simply.

"Oh? And why not?" she asked.

"I didn't just wish for the rock to blast out of my hands. Under my breath I added 'where nobody would ever find it ever again'. And the rock isn't one to mess up wishes like that," I said.

"Well, I guess I'll never see any of you again, you little brats! I'm sorry I had children, if they weren't going to fulfill my life's dream!" the lady said. At this, I stepped forward to hurt her, but everybody held me back, almost unsuccessfully, but they eventually pinned me down.

"Okay, Okay, I give!" I said, and they climbed off of me.

"Hel? Cole? Are you two okay?" I asked them as I got up. They hadn't been holding me back.

They both shook their heads no.

"Come on, let's get you two something to drink," I said, leading them to the kitchen. I knew where everything was from being at their house so much. I fixed each of them a glass of ice water, and gave it to them. They just stared into it.

"Look, I'm sorry that this is kinda my fault. Is there anything I can do?" I asked. They didn't respond.

"I guess I'll just leave you to your thoughts…" I said as I headed toward the door. I felt a hand grab each of my arms before I could take the first step. It was both Cole and Hel. They pulled me back.

Hel moved toward me, buried her head in my shoulder and cried. Cole came over and just hugged the both of us, tears spilling from his eyes.

"Look, I don't know what I can do to make this better, but you can rest assured knowing I will do everything I can, and I will always be there for each of you," I said.

"Thanks. We need to walk this off. Come on, lets take a walk around town," said Cole. I put an arm around Hel's shoulders, but so she could still cry into my shoulder.

We went out, and we kept walking around until it was dark. We were walking past an alley, when a group of boys came out.

"Give us all your money," they said. They pulled out pocketknives and unfolded the blades.

"Nope," I said, and we kept walking. The surrounded us, and started closing in. I saw some metal bars extending down one wall near us, and I grabbed it, and yanked a long length of it from the wall with effort.

"Hel! Cole! Hit the dirt!" I yelled, as I swung the bar around like a staff, from the middle. I spun it, trying to frighten the kids away, but the just stepped back some. I had learned this in a Tae Kwon Do class when I was younger, and it appeared like I would really have to fight them. I stabbed it at one, and he dodged it, but I brought it down on his head, knocking him out. I went back to the middle of the circle the boys had formed, and planted the pole in the ground. I ran around it, still holding on to it, and jumped. I swung around it, kicking the boys away.

I put my feet back on the ground and took the pole in my hands. I twisted it, and hit another in the stomach. With about six of them left, I lined them up, leveled the pole so it would hit them with the side, all of them at one time. I charged them, and pushed them all up against a wall. I pressed the bar to their necks, and then slid it between some metal rings on the wall, so they were pinned. I bent the ends of the bars, so they couldn't escape. I backed away, and saw Helvetica and Cole still on the ground. I ran to them,

"Hel! Cole! You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," they said, as I helped them up

"But you're not!" said Hel, pointing at my arm. From my shoulder to my wrist, was a long, bloody slash. And that's when I remembered that one of them had thrown their knife, and hit home.

"Nah, it's okay. Just a scratch," I lied. I was beginning to feel lightheaded from the lost blood. I took off my shirt, and Hel gasped. She was surprised that I had been working out. I tore my shirt into strips, and tied them to my arm.

"I feel dizzy," I told them, as I stumbled. They caught me underneath the arms, and started dragging me back to their house. When we got there, they dropped me on the couch, and I fell unconscious.


	9. Chapter 8

When I woke up, I found that I was in Hel's bed, with her snuggled up to me, head on my chest, my bad arm away from her. The cut was still bandaged up in my shirt, so I was shirtless, and I saw hel tracing my muscles. She obviously felt the added comfort, and my increase in heart beat, because she sat up and looked at me.

"You're awake!" she said. She kissed me, and then wrapped her body around mine.

"Looks like I am, so nobody pinch me," I said with a straight face, and as Hel laughed.

"That was amazing! How did you learn to do that?" she asked.

"I don't know. I guess the fear for my best friend and my girlfriend drove me to instincts deep into the animocity level. In other words, I guess my fear told me what to do," I said. She laughed again, and buried her head deep in my chest. Cole appeared in the doorway.

"Hey! You're alive! We were starting to get worried about you, you lost a lot of blood," he said.

"I knew that before I blacked out," I said. He grinned.

"Come on, let's get your arm wrapped up," Cole said. He reached to a table beside me, and picked up a tube of Neosporin, and some gauze bandages. I unwrapped my shirt carefully, not wanting the skin underneath to tear from the clotted blood. It came off easily, fortunately. Cole squeezed some of the gel onto his finger, and covered the long, ugly colored cut with it. It hurt, but I knew that if I moved it would hurt more, so I kept still. Mr. Black appeared in the doorway.

"I see you're finally awake. Now, will you tell me what happened?" asked Mr. Black. Cole wrapped up my arm, and sat back.

"Sure. Some gang kids attacked us, and I dealt with them. One of them threw their knife, and it hit me. I bet about six of the kids are still down there pinned to the wall," I said, grinning slightly.

"We'll, at least it wasn't a major cut, like if it were in the chest," he said.

"Yeah. Hey, do you mind if I stay here for a couple days, until I can regain the blood I lost?" I asked.

"Feel free," said Mr. Black. He smiled, and left. I smiled at Hel, and then leaned down and kissed her.

"So. What do we do now?" Hel asked.

"I have no idea," I said

**Hey guys, this is Eiedolon here. I'm out of ideas for the story, so send them in! I know that people are reading this, because the traffic tells me so, but I digress. I still have no reviews. After this chapter, I'm not posting anything new until I get a few reviews, and ideas too, for that matter.**


	10. Chapter 9

We just hung around and talked that weekend, with nothing to do and having seen all of the movies worth seeing. Hel seemed to always have a distant look in her eyes. Hel had missed enough school, and so had Cole, so I stayed home at my house the first day. The second day, I went back. And I had a big surprise waiting for me. I went to school alone, and when I got there, I saw Hel and Laser…kissing. I saw an old scene inside my head.

"Reverse invisibility and arms back to normal," Laser said. Laser had the rock, and Hel was pretending to have fainted in his arms. She opened her eyes, and looked at Laser.

"You know Laser, I always did like you," she had said to him.

"Really?" he asked. She punched him in the face, and said," LIKED" as she took the rock.

I had thought that had just been a lie to get the rock. Apparently, it had been much, much more. They broke away, and Hel turned, and saw me standing there. She started at me, wide eyed, and then I turned and ran. I ran all the way home, and saw mom there. She asked me why I was home, and I told her that I still felt like I needed to regain some blood.

The next day, I went back, and saw Hel looking for me. I hid by a bush, and when she wasn't looking in my direction, I ran inside, into my classroom, and took my seat. Soon, the bell rang, and everyone started coming into the room.

I looked away from the door, and I eventually felt Hel settle in on one side of me, and Cole on the other side of her. They didn't speak, although I could feel Helvetica's gaze on me the whole class. When it came time for lunch, I got my food, and sat down at an empty table. I soon felt Cole and Hel join me.

"Okay, what's going on between you two? Why aren't you talking?" Cole finally asked.

"I saw her kissing Laser yesterday, and ran home," I said shakily.

"What?" he said. I soon felt what had to be the Short brothers and Nose join us. They saw the scar stretching down my arm, and began asking questions.

"Ask Helvetica. Or, was everything that had happened since last year just another dream?" I said aggressively. She said nothing. Cole finally broke and told them.

"Who knows, it might have been," Laser said, obviously trying to make me think that he never kissed her. I stood up out of my chair.

"Shut up, Laser, I'm not an idiot," I said. I swung a punch at him, and it

connected with his temple. He slumped back in his chair, unconscious, and I sat back down and continued eating. Cole looked at me, and stared. He then looked at Hel.

"Why?" he asked. She opened her mouth to speak, but I didn't want to know.

"How could you?" I screamed. Everybody stopped talking and looked at me. I put my hand under my tray, and flipped it into the air, sending food spinning everywhere, and the tray clattering to the floor. I stormed out of the lunchroom, and went outside, and sat on one of the tables, hugging my knees. I eventually heard the door open and close, and Hel came out in front of me. She kissed me, but got no reaction from me. I didn't even kiss her back.

She stopped trying a few minutes later, and went back inside. Then Cole came out, and just sat beside me, staring off into the distance with me. He eventually rest his hand on my shoulder, and then went back. Next, was Loogie.

"Don't worry dude. She wasn't worth it," he said, before going back. Then was Lug.

"Forget about her. Videogames, are the one thing that won't let you down," he said. Nose came a few minutes later.

"You'll find somebody else, Toby," he said. Finally, after they had woken Laser, he came out.

"Sorry dude, but… all's fair in love and war, right?" he said, before running back in, to escape pain. I went back to class, and after school, I went down to the park. I sat by the pond, watching the other teens roller skate around it. Eventually, a girl my age skated around to me, and collapsed beside me on the ground.

"Hi. What's up with you? You look like somebody you care about has died," she said. I grimaced slightly, and then smirked.

"I guess you could say that. She's still alive, but as dead to me as if she actually were," I replied. I told her what had happened. The whole thing. Even what had happened last year. The only thing I left out was what I had done for her, how I had saved her in so many ways. She just sat there, thinking about what I had said.

"Well. It's not like you saved her life or anything," she said, brightening slightly.

"I have. Twice. And kicked her evil almost-step-mom and her actual mom out of her house, both she thanked me for later," I told her. She gaped at me. I told her the rest of the story, and she obviously didn't believe me. I pulled up my sleeve, and silently showed her my scar. She stared at me, wide eyed.

"You must be a good guy to have around," she told me.

"Apparently Hel didn't think so," I told her. Soon, I felt a presence behind me, and Cole appeared.

"Hey, Toe. Who's this?" he asked.

"I don't really know, Cole," I told him. He gazed at me, puzzled.

"I'm Megann. My friends and I saw him sitting here all depressed, and we drew straws to see who would go see what was up. He told me the story. What I believe is the whole story," she said. He nodded.

"Cole, I don't want you to choose sides between your sister and me," I told him. He exhaled with relief.

"That would have been hard," he replied. I nodded, and stared into the water.

"Can you do one thing for me though? Can you ask her why? What had driven her to do what she did?" I asked. He nodded, and stood up, and left.

"You know, Toby? Sometimes, you have to take the whole path, instead of just taking a shortcut. The shortcut will get you where you need to be, but will you be any better of because of it? When you take the path, you become a better person, one who is strong, and learns from his mistakes. I bet Helvetica wishes she could have taken the path," she said. She got up, and rollerbladed away, leaving me truly alone. I sobbed quietly into my knees, thinking of what had happened, and wondering if it was all a lie.

Soon, Cole returned with an answer.

"She said that…she said that she thought you deserved better than her. All she had done since she had known you was have me stuff you into trashcans, and tormenting you. She feels like there are millions of people better for you than her, and that you'll probably find a new girl soon," he said.

"I personally think that I might never find another girl my whole life. And why couldn't she just tell me, instead of breaking my heart. I gave it to her, and she took it with her when she left. She broke it, and now I'm broken," I said. Fresh tears started spilling from my eyes, and Cole hugged me awkwardly.

People stared at us, but Cole glared at them, and they ran. I broke away from him, and ran. I ran, and ran, until I felt I was a safe distance away.

I wandered around, until I found a boy standing over a figure, taunting her, telling her to give him a kiss, and that he wanted was a kiss—and all her money.

I gasped—the figure was none other than Helvetica! I also realized that the boy had a gun. I did the math, and ran at the boy. I stopped a couple feet behind him.

"I bet you're having a lot of fun, aren't you?" I said. He whipped around, pointing his rifle at me. I must have looked threatening; my hair was wild, my clothes were soaked with tears, and my form was silhouetted by the light of a streetlight. I advanced slowly, making him back up.

"Here's how it's gonna work. You're gonna put the gun down, apologize to her, and then you're going to walk away,"I said. He pointed the gun again, and fired. I yelped, and twisted to the side. The bullet grazed my arm, making an almost identical cut to the other one. He fired again, lower. The bullet sank into my leg, and I collapsed to the ground. He laughed, and I stood up again. He gasped, and fired again, completely missing me. I grabbed the gun from his hand, pointed it at him, and fired. It grazed his ribs, and although he was in pain, he stood his ground. He pulled out two knives, and came at me, slashing at my arms.

He made cuts across the other ones, making full arcs around my arms. The old scar opened, and began bleeding as well. My arms were drenched with blood, and the knives eventually were so drenched with my blood that they slipped from his hands. I shot him with the gun I still somehow held, and it buried itself deep in his chest. We both collapsed, pools of blood beginning to gather around us, and eventually mixing. I heard Hel and apparently Cole, who had been following me, and had just found me, approach.

Cole tore off both of our shirts, and his undershirt, and wrapped them around my injuries, while Hel screamed my name. I blacked out.


End file.
